1. FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to devices for handling surgical instruments and the like and in particular to devices for maintaining the instruments in a sterilized condition, devices for presenting the instruments at the time of use in an organized manner and devices for facilitating cleaning and sterilization of the instruments after use. More specifically, this invention relates to a surgical instrument rack for receiving and properly orienting instruments during sterilization and storage and also for organizing groups of instruments in a pre-established arrangement for use by operating personnel.
2. DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART
In the interest of facilitating and standardizing operating room procedures, it is common practice to group surgical instruments into standard or basic sets. The organization of the instrument sets is determined by the surgical procedure to be followed. The standard groups of instruments are stored in a sterilized condition until usage. Subsequent to usage, the instruments are subject to a multi-step cleaning and sterilization procedure. The cleaning may include immersion in an ultrasonic bath to remove all foreign matter. It is important that all of the instruments are thoroughly cleaned prior to the sterilization process. After cleaning, the instruments are assembled into a basic set. The set may be arranged in a perforated or a wire mesh bottom tray for sterilization. During preliminary cleaning and sterilization, all hinged, pivoted or jointed instruments must be opened or unlocked to permit contact of the steam or sterilization fluids with all of the instrument surfaces.
The surgical instruments are typically removed from a tray in the operating room, arranged on a stand and organized in a fashion which permits the instruments to be handed to the surgeon, as needed, in a very efficient manner. The arrangement of numerous instruments in loose fashion on a Mayo stand presents the potential for external droppage, thus necessitating emergency sterilization. The numerous manipulative steps required between the use of an instrument also presents a potential that an instrument may be inadvertently misplaced and will thus not be easily located when needed.
A number of devices have been advanced for minimizing the handling of surgical instruments, as well as organizing the surgical instruments for use by the surgeon. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,925,014 of the inventor of the present invention, a rack for storing and supporting sterile hinged instruments comprises an open framework for supporting the instruments in side-by-side relationship. The rack includes a pair of removable retaining bars and is particularly well suited for use with pivoted or hinged surgical instruments. The basic sets of the hinged surgical instruments remain in the rack except when used by the surgeon. The rack is employed to properly orient the instruments during the cleaning and subsequent sterilization of the instruments and to retain and position the instruments in the unlocked and open condition. One retaining bar holds the instruments in the open condition during the cleaning and sterilization. A second bar secures the instruments to the rack until use regardless of the position of the rack and is ordinarily only removed in the operating room.